Customer Reviews

A Stolen Life (1946) [VHS]

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Betty Davis fans get their money's worth with this film in which she plays a set of identical twins, Kate and Pat Bosworth. Kate is the country mouse ,and Pat is the city mouse. Ms. Davis does a yeoman's job infusing each of the twins with her own personality, so as to make them two entirely distinct persons. Kate, the demure and sensitive artist, falls for Bill Emerson, a lighthouse keeper, played by a young Glenn Ford, while Pat, an amoral man hungry predator, thinks nothing of stealing Bill right out from under her sister's nose.

Pat and Bill end up getting married, because as Bill puts it, Kate is like a cake without the frosting, while Pat makes him think that the cake is fully frosted. Little does Bill know what is in store for him. Trust me, his sweet tooth quickly begins to decay and pain him. Both Bill and Kate end up miserable once Pat and Bill are married, as Pat proceeds to have a series of affairs.

One day, while the twins are out boating, they are caught in a severe storm. When Pat is washed overboard, Kate is knocked unconscious but remains in the boat and is rescued. Upon awakening, she realizes that she has been mistaken for the now dead Pat and decides to continue the charade, as she believes that it is her only chance for happiness with Bill. She soon realizes all is not what it seemed, and she comes to a crossroad in her life, as does Bill.

While the ending of the story is somewhat implausible, it is very Hollywood and wraps the film up into one neat and tidy ending. Notwithstanding this, it is still an entertaining melodrama and a must see by Bette Davis fans, as well as lovers of classic films.

I love Bette Davis, who could turn even the most dull films into pure excitement with her pure energy. This luckily is not a dull film.

Bette plays twin sisters, one good the other bad (isn't that always the case with these things?) The bad one steals the good one's lover, and the good one rather uncharacteristically steals the bad one's life when she is killed in an exciting boating accident.

The photogrpahy is excellent, there being only a few scenes where it is obvious one of the two Bettes is on a rear projection. The story starts slowly but really takes off after a while. One wonders just how it is she is going to get out of this mess when she discovers her sister's life was not all it had seemed.

This is also a fascinating film from a feminist perspective. At first I thought it was all very racy and immoral, what with the heroine allowing her family to think she is dead and then impersonating her sister, and all that extra-marital sex going on. Then I realised that in fact it is a very moral film: the good sister is sexually repressed, yearns for a man who dumped her for her raunchier sister, and allows herself to be insulted by a deadbeat painter. The bad sister by contrast is sexually liberated and is punished with divorce and death.

It's all highly enjoyable fare.

Bette Davis stars as twins after the same man. There's Good Bette, a sensitive, reserved artist, and there's Bad Bette, a socialite apparently without morals. Glenn Ford is the man who finds himself between them. He opts for Bad Bette, leaving Good Bette heartbroken and deflated, willing to accept berating from a rough artist, Dane Clark. However, she gets another chance, following a boating accident in which Bad Bette drowns, and people accidently assume it was Good Bette. She has the opportunity to take her sister's life and get back the man she wanted ... if she can pull it off. Like the twins, there are good and bad points to the film. On the good side, you have Davis and the effects. She does a very good job with two characterizations here, even when one is pretending to be the other. The special effects to create the illusion of twins are surprisingly good for 1946. It's not the usual split-screen work you would expect, but more complicated set-ups where they pass things to each other and appear to be touching. On the bad side would be the story and Ford. The story starts promisingly, but begins to fall apart after Ford chooses Bad Bette. The Dane Clark character is irrelevant to the film, since he does not figure into the resolution. The resolution is also very weak, neatly wrapping up a situation that is far too complicated to be so easily solved. Glenn Ford comes across very weakly here, a combination of a badly drawn character and poor performance. Davis and the special effects help to salvage the film. Too bad the script lets them down.

This is truly, one of Bette Davis' best films. She really shines in it. They certainly don't make them like this anymore. She does a good job playing a double role as Katie, and her sister Pat. It's a story, that really keeps your interest. I really like the New England setting in this film. It takes place in a little town near the ocean in Maine I highly recommend this. This is a kepper!

This one features Bette Davis at her devious, overwrought best.
If you've ever seen Carol Burnett's parody, "A Swiped Life", you will have a hard time keeping a straight face through the real thing.
"A Stolen Life" is great fun, especially if you're in the right mood.
No one is more watchable than Bette, and I think this is one of her best.
She is wonderfully entertaining in the role(s) of twins, while those around her, particularly the men, react with appropriate bewilderment.When the character Bill marvels that "I can't tell you apart",I want to shout, "That's because they're the SAME PERSON, moron!"
This movie is not exactly subtle. The old standards are present: the crusty old salt with a heart of gold under the gruff exterior, the sensitive loner who needs only to meet the woman who understands him, and the misunderstood, non-conforming artist who tries to "awaken" inhibited Kate but mercifully stops short of telling her that she's beautiful when she's angry.
It all amounts to a lot of fun, though.

This one is a classic hit! It has everything! Old Cape Cod towns, lighthouses, romantic fog and love twists. If you need to escape into another world, this far-fetched romance is for you. This movie is wonderful, elegant, sappy and predictable. Whatever the time of year, it's fine holiday fun. They simply don't make them like this anymore and ain't THAT a shame! Two very enthusiastic thumbs up.

"A Stolen Life", is a real curiosity piece in the work of Bette Davis and was the last of her highly successful films in her incredible run from 1937 - 1946 as Queen of Warner Brothers. This period saw her play everything from Queens, to murderesses, heroines dying of brain tumours and flighty heiresses. This incredible body of work produced an almost unbroken string of Box Office Hits culminating in this rather (for the time) original story. "A Stolen Life", offers fans of this legendary actress like myself, the unique opportunity of seeing her play identical twins, and secondly for witnessing the at times superb special effects of having Davis supposedly performing with herself in many scenes. Even by todays standards the effect of having two Bette's apparently performing in the one scene is stunningly achieved and this excellence to a certain extent makes up for the rather incredible story with its unlikely twists and turns. After this film Bette Davis experienced a real career slump which was only rectified four years later after she had left Warner Brothers, in her stunning comeback film "All about Eve".

Bette Davis plays New England sisters Kate and Patricia Bosworth, and typically in these kind of stories their personalities are for the most part the exact opposite. Kate a struggling artist is the more sensible and down to earth of the two while Patricia tends to be the more forward one who is also quite aggressive about getting the men in her life. Kate while on a trip out to the Maine lighthouse falls in love with young lighthouse keeper Bill Emerson (Glenn Ford), a romance develops however when Patricia sets her eyes on Bill a tug-a-war for his affections begins which eventually sees Patricia winning out and marrying him much to Kate's distress. Comforted by cousin Fred Linly (Charles Ruggles) she then makes the acquaintance of tempermental artist Karnock (Dana Clark) who begins to work with her in her studio which also ignites a stormy love/hate relationship between the two. Kate is surprised however to find Patricia on her doorstep at the Maine house and in an attempt to get along better the two decide to go sailing which unfortunately results in Patricia drowning. Recovering after the accident by a fluke Kate is mistaken for Patricia as she is clutching Patricia's wedding ring and with little thought Kate decides to play along with this charade as a way of finally getting the man she has always loved. However it is not smooth sailing when she assumes Patricia's identity as it is revealed she and Bill were heading for divorce and Patricia has had a string of ex lovers one of which is still very much part of her life. Finding it impossible to maintain the charade any longer Kate flees back to her New England roots where eventually all is resolved and Kate's real identity is revealed . Reconciled with Bill the belief is that the two will start again to use Bill's words and make a new beginning as Kate was always the one he was best suited to of the sisters anyway.

Despite the stories incredible situation and very predictable conclusion there is much to enjoy in "A Stolen Life". Bette Davis does sterling work as the two very different sisters and it's a mark of her great abilities that she doesn't go down the easy path of making each sister the total opposite of the other. Both clearly have shades of grey in them and her acting supposedly against herself in the sister's joint scenes is a masterwork of technique and receptive acting. Glenn Ford handles his role in a capable style but in her first effort as a producer in her new contract with Warner Brothers it is obvious it is Bette's show all the way. The film has a very romantic feel about it with the stunning Cape Cob settings with many of the scenes taking place on mist shrouded hillsides looking down onto crashing waves. First and foremost however this film will always be remembered and talked about because of the special effects that see one performer playing two characters in the one scene. Indeed the technique here is smoothly done and scenes where the two "sisters" actually touch or look each other directly in the eye are quite remarkable. Bette Davis obviously saw this as a challenge as she repeated this in a similiar story about two sisters called "Dead Ringer", in 1964. Directed by veteran director Curtis Bernhardt the usual expertise you expect from all personnel in the golden years of the great Studio system is evident from sets, musical score by Max Steiner and well selected supporting players such as Charles Ruggles and the always excellent Walter Brennan.

"A Stolen Life", makes highly entertaining viewing and shows the multi talents of Bette Davis in full bloom. While certainly not one of Bette's best efforts it has alot to recommend it to viewers. The seemingly tacked on "happy ending", does seem forced and unnecessary but when viewing these types of melodramas one has to look past it's obvious flaws to appreciate the great effort that went into it's construction. It has to be remembered too that in 1946 the idea of two sisters, one good and one bad was still a fresh one and hadn't been done to death yet in countless television productions. Either way Bette Davis always makes compulsive viewing and here she has a field day playing twins who are headed for a collision over the love of one man. Enjoy!

This is a long awaited movie in DVD format. Bette Davis plays both roles as identical twin sisters with opposite personalities superbly. It's a love-hate relationship with the characters she portrays, but that's the talent she brings to the big screen. I am so very happy to finally see this great movie in DVD! It's a must-have in your collection of Bette Davis' films.

In retrospect, this 1946 film actually holds up as one of Davis's more enjoyable efforts as an artist. Davis later admitted in her memoirs that this film served as a balm to her ego - playing twins - one good, the other bad (how original!!) Glenn Ford is the object of their affections and there is an entertaining twist.........This isn't a great movie by any means, but it is great fun to watch! The technical advances of 1946 were surprisingly very good (catch the scene in which Davis lights Davis's cigarette!) Bette playing against herself is a hoot; fans will be happy to know that she looks rather young and pretty for her then thirty-eight years. A STOLEN LIFE was originally written by Margaret Kennedy to allow Elisabeth Bergner the chance to show her talent as twin sisters - which she did in a 1939 British film of the same title. Davis chose it as her first "independent" production under her new contract. The sisters are rivals in love, naturally, the men in their lives being a surly painter (the boring Dane Clark) and a ferryman (the adequate Glenn Ford). The latters' sudden promotion to a business careeer in Chile is the sort of leap that only films like this can make. What makes it interesting is Davis, as the imposter, encountering classic situations as in the later DEAD RINGER (q.v.), not knowing which door to use, the dog not recognising her, etc. with artful flair. As directed by Curtis Bernhardt, she rather refreshingly tries no great feat of differentiation, being reasonable and straightforward as the heroine and hardly less so as her shallow rival. The supporting players Charles Ruggles and (especially) Walter Brennan are good as usual. Max Steiner's score isn't his best, yet it's unique and instantly identifies the picture. The script by Catherine Turney is rather good in that it tends to stray away from the usual cliches found in films such as this. As a footnote, this is the only film ever produced by Bette Davis.

Kate (Bette Davis) is a sweet but lonely gal, who meets a quiet lighthouse keeper and thinks she has found her soulmate. Unfortunately, her twin sister Pat (also played by Bette Davis) has a penchant for stealing Kate's boyfriends, even though she has plenty of her own. She steals and marries Bill, ruins his life, ruins her sister's life, behaves shamelessly by running around with other men. In a boating accident, Pat is drowned, and Kate tries to grab her hand as the waves pull her away. Her wedding ring is pulled off and found in Kate's hand, and everyone assumes Kate is Pat. She let's them believe that, to steal back her man, and finally find her destiny with Bill. But when she discovers her sister was a tramp, she can't face him and runs away. Bill finally figures out what's really going on, and goes searching for her, realizing he should have married Kate in the first place.